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Can concussions cause long term problems or even kill you?

Q: I’ve been hearing a lot about football players getting concussions lately. Is it true that concussions can cause lasting effects and even kill you?

Short A: Yep

Long A: “Concussion” is a traumatic brain injury which causes a temporary loss of neurologic function with or without loss of consciousness. These are common in contact sports like football and hockey, but also occur in soccer, skiing, baseball, and rugby. Signs and symptoms of concussion include:

Confusion

Amnesia and disorientation

Visual disturbance

Dizziness and balance problems

Mood changes

Ringing in the ears

Nausea or vomiting

Slurred speech

Fatigue

Headache

Some symptoms-headache and amnesia-occur within minutes of the injury and may continue for some time after. Other symptoms-anxiety, depression, confusion, sleep disturbance, even seizures-might not show up until days or weeks after the injury. You should be examined by a doctor if you sustain a head injury which results in a loss of consciousness and/or experience any of the above symptoms.

Most people with a single, mild concussion will recover fully without noticeable side effects. However, one concussion makes it easier to get a second, even with a less forceful injury. This is why doctors usually make your favorite star athletes sit out a few weeks after a head injury. The brain needs time to heal before it is put at risk. “Second impact syndrome,” a potentially fatal swelling of the brain, can occur if a second injury occurs too soon after the first.

It’s clear that severe traumatic brain injury can cause permanent neurologic deficits. Surprisingly, it appears that multiple small concussions can cause cumulative neurologic and cognitive deficits as well. There is an association with multiple “knock outs” and Alzheimer’s disease in boxers.

General treatments for concussion include rest and over-the-counter pain medication. Drink lots of water and abstain from alcohol. You should not return to contact sports until you are completely recovered, which is at least a week for a mild concussion. More severe concussions might mean sitting out a season, or even changing sports.

Of course, the best treatment is prevention. Wear a helmet. Protect your head.

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47 thoughts on “Can concussions cause long term problems or even kill you?”

My husband has had probably 8 concussions in this life between the ages of 14 and 50. He saw a neurologist who told him he’d have to be on antidepressants for the rest of his life and told him not to drink alcohol. He still drinks, even if it’s one beer, 9 out 10 days at least. It’s usually much more than that. Why did the dr tell him not to drink? What are the consequences of his drinking?
Thanks for the help!

If your sister has been checked out by a doctor who confirmed she did not have a concussion, then she should be OK.

Bumping your head is one thing, everyone bumps something once in a while. You get a bruise, it turns interesting colors, and you move on. But if she seriously hit her head hard, has a large welt, lost consciousness, felt dizzy afterwards, any of these and did not go to the doctor – then really a trip to the doctor is in order just to make sure everything is OK.

I had a confusion about a year ago and didn’t know it until recently. A few months after the head injury I started getting very bad migraine. I’m still not able to do certain activities without my head pounding and my neck being stiff. Do es anybody know if this could be a long term affect from the concussion I had?? Please help! Thank you!

I get the same thing. I’m a fourteen year old who has suffered from many concussions over the past 5 years from playing sports. Now when I do too much physical activity or I bump my head even just a little my head starts pounding and my ears start to ring. I have recently gone to the doctors and have been diagnosed with a sinus infection and I am also vitamin B-12 deficient. In a couple of months I am scheduled to have an MRI which will determine what’s actually wrong with me. My doctor said it could be serious so I encourage you to go to the doctors as well if you haven’t already. I’m aware you posted this in 2015, but even if it doesn’t bother you anymore I would still get it checked out.

I hit my head when I slipped in the bathroom & hit my head on the toilet, it’s been 4 & half months & where I actually hit it aches & I can’t sleep on it & still feeling “weird/off” as well when I have a couple drinks I feel strange so not sure if this is all semi – normal after this long!

It’s not so much the number of head injuries, diagnosied or not, it is the severity of the injuries and how soon they occur after another. Take a moment to jot down the dates of your injuries, the symptoms that occurred, how long it took you to recover – before the headaches and the like stopped, etc. Then the next time you visit your doctor, bring the list and discuss it with them. They can then advise you on future action.

I have have three concussions in the last 2 years or about, and I never sought treatment till my last one. My second one I was knocked out, slept alot, and lost mobility in my legs for 3 weeks. Ever since this last one I get nose bleeds when I wake up, my head is ringing and something pounding. Everyday my memory gets worse, my concentrating has got worse and I keep forgetting little things like how to fill my gas… I’ve read a lot that concussions can kill you…. is my Brain slowly dying because I never got treatment? If so I need to know.. I’m only 20.. please help answer this.

so i kinda got in a car accident and i hit my head when i looked at my head on my camera on my phone i noticed i have a bump on my forehead….. so should i go see a doctor right now at 10:35pm or should i wait till the morning to go to the doctors….

My husband is 54, just had a concussion about six weeks ago. He’s a heavy drinker due to the excruciating pain caused by hereditary degenerated disk disease in his hip, for which no pain killer worked for him. The fluid in his brain doesn’t seem to go away even after six weeks without hourly massaging. i’m afraid that he might die from it when i’m not at home massaging his head.

My father got into a car accident and his brain shifted in his skull. He has a concussion and gets headaches everyday. His doctors are telling him that it will take a long time to get better or it will just get worse. Please someone respond is he going to die?? My mom left and she can care less about him. Please someone, is my dad going to die? His accident was in October and it’s now February.

Brain injuries take a long time to heal. It will be a slow process for both your dad and yourself. Find someone you can talk to – a school counselor, a friend’s mom/dad you trust, someone at your place of worship. Both you and your dad need support during this time of healing.

I went out drinking last night and hit my head pretty hard on the pavement everyone said it made a large sound and they were surprised that I didn’t crack my head open. My friend said that I lost conciousness for like 2 seconds, I then got up and went back into the pub and proceeded to drink. I’m not too sure if I need to go get checked out or not but I feel fine just the back of my head is rather sore and I have slept since then injury, I am at work now so am unable to go get it checked out do you think I’ll be alright to sleep, I have had a nap during the day and was fine but sould I be scared of getting into a deeper sleep?

My gf has severe bi polar and go to hurting herself to make herself feel better. She hit herself in the head about two weeks ago with a alarm clock several times really hard gave herself a big knot on the right side and than two days later hit herself in the same area with one of those really hard metal flashlights several times again and got tired and light headed n than two days ago banged her forehead several times really hard onto one of those electric wood poles outside she passed out for about an hour n a half refused to go to hospital until next day when she couldn’t walk straight see straight and was really dizzy and nauseated so the ambulance to get to the e.r they concluDed she had a concussion but not bleeding on the Brain and told her keep her head safe n rest n she’s been trying to… She throws up everything she eats everyone she gets up from laying down she gets dizzy abd sick her head is constaNtly hurting her I know cause she’s constaNtly moaning. .. but she’s been so upset and dePressed she keeps hitting herself in the head still. …… Is she going to be ok our will it eventually kill her. … our damage her? ? She refuses to go to doctors anymore and constaNtly puncching herself in the head or hitting her head with her phone or whatever around her in the same spot as the concussion also what will that do to get

I’ve had 7-8 concussions spanning from 2011 to 2016. They were all mild concussions, I never lost consciousness, but all of them did give me the common concussion symptoms. Now I worry that I’ve wrecked my future, considering the discovery of CTE and brain degenerative disorder. Anyone have any advice on what I should do or if there is anything I can do? I was 14 in 2011 and I am 19 now in 2016 just in case that info helps.

My brother recently fell and has slurred speech. We are headed to the doctors currently. He slipped and hit the back of his head. What happens if he falls asleep? Is this enough to give someone a stutter?

i had a bike accident about 7 months ago hit my head against the road but didnt go to the doctor, i was a bit dizzy mostly shocked and a bit of a lump it went down within 24 hours and i didnt vomit or pass out was just wondering if i should be okay or am i in danger ? thank you in advance

My boyfriend slapped the back of my head so damn hard. We were both arguing and got into a big fight and that’s when he slapped me so darn hard I felt my head sting and tingle after that. I didn’t pass out or anything just hurt that he hit me. Its been 5 days since then and little by little I keep getting this pressure like headache feeling like my head is going to pop. I feel a bit nauseas but my headache has been going on and off for a bout a day and it won’t go away. I took Tylenol BTW which didn’t really help so I couldn’t take the pain so I went to the ER to see if I might have a concussion but they didn’t do a CAT scan because they said that it wasn’t major concern because I didn’t pass out, and my neurologic exam was good (no blurry vision, no vomiting, no slurred speech, pretty alert, and no dilated pupils) so they didn’t think it was necessary and to come back if I did get those symptoms later but now I’m worried that I may be bleeding inside my brain and I’ll die or something. What should I do? Should I go back to the Er and demand a scan? Or should I just wait it out? Help I’m scared. How long does it take to die when you have a concussion ? I’m paranoid.

I need help. My friend keeps getting concussions, and when she told me when she think she got another one, I told her to get it checked out and NOT play assassins creed, but she said that she’s used to it. I told her agai that she should get it checked out, she replied that the doctors gave her pain meds because they couldn’t do much to help

I played ice hockey in my early 30’so and have sustained at least 20 concussions. (On and off the ice) I’m now 44 and I’m experiencing major depression, anxiety, memory problems, temper changes, vision problems and ringing in my ears, dizziness and have constant headaches. I’ve been to a Neurologist and he didn’t think that doing any test would give me any answers. I am obviously suffering and scared to death that I have the first stage of CTE. Anyone have any advice?

I was mugged 3 years ago where the attacker had struck me in the front left of my head and I then fell hard backwards on to concrete sidewalk. The ER said I had concussion but sent me home after two hours and pain mess. I explained to neurologist week later that I was having lotta emotional issues and he basically said was in my head. 3 years later I have severe aggression, cannot control emotions, trouble concentrating and focusing, battle severe depression, and difficulty with other normal functions. My new dr finally diagnosed me with tbi and said it was probably more severe than ER thought and they never gave me a CT scan since they said my head had no open injury to it. I was told I’d be on medication for a long time or even life, I have also spoken to number of people with concussions from mild to severe who experience everything I still do years later. What would happen if I were to ever receive another blow to the head, would it make me even worse, bc I’m struggling a lot now?

I have post concussion syndrome and I was okay about two days after then I was sitting by my friends pool and everything was getting blurry and I just knew I had to get inside when I stood up I had ringing in my ears and I couldn’t hear then vision went all black and then I was on my friends couch crying i don’t even know what happened and then all my friends told me to go lay down in my friends bed to sleep it off but I kept blacking out and waking up, on the walk home it was if I could see everything but I wasn’t in my body if that makes sense I was walking with friends thank god because I couldn’t remember what i was doing everything 5 minutes this all lasted a good 2-3 hours, I’m 15 and I’ve experienced anything like this ever

I had a mild concussion about 4 years ago but the doctor cleared me after some days. Lately, I noticed that I have been getting severe headaches and dizziness. Can that be related to my accident 4 years ago?

My wife had an bike accident a year ago her head was hit badly on the road and she unconscious immediately for aome time after the accident. I get her to dr and dr said her head hit very badly and have some bleeding inside the brain and swelling too. But after few days medicine she gets better but now after a year or so she starts feeling headache and mood swings. And her injury still hurts her. I am not sure if it is dangerous ? If possible can you please give any advice on what is going on and what can be happened in future. If possible can you please write me in email ?

Good Morning. When I was from age 13 to age 17 I played football (Tackle) with the neighborhood guys and did so with out protection. I was hit many many times in the head. In fact at one point, I started to ask the team players what direction was I running to catch the ball? That should have been a clue, ( But that was in the early 70s ) and there wasn’t anyone interested in brain injuries as they are today.
I can tell you exactly what’s going to happen. Thought process is going to be hard to think of anything for a very very long time. Study? Until you fall asleep, But you will not recall anything. School was very very hard for me. I could not recall anything. In fact one day I was looking through my drawers in my room at home and until even this day I still can’t recall why I found and envelope full of money. I have no idea where it came from.
Sports: Basket balls would NEVER go in the hoops. Foot Ball was a joke. Today I’m 60 years old and I started to remember things about the 70s when I was 57 years old.
It’s been very very hard for me to recall anything. Shifting patterns in trucks, locations I’ve been time and time again? Can’t recall even now. I have a GPS with me at all times.
Yesterday I was in Elmira NY and I have been there before. But, yesterday I couldn’t recall if I lived to the West or East of there.
Don’t be fooled by the recollection drugs. If you have had multible concussions when young. your F*cked for life.

Hi, my brother is 3 and got hit on the head when the door opened, he got a cut and a bump, he’s feeling drowsy, (not being his hyper self), what kind of concussion is that mild or severe? Is that a headache? Or do you think he just got really tired?

PLEASE HELP MY BF PLAYS FOOTBALL AND HAS HAD 5 concussions PLEASE TELL ME HOW MANY U CAN GET BEFORE U CAN GET BRAIN DAMAGE OR DIE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME IM SCARED WE HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR 4 years please help❤️💙🦄😈👿👹👺🎃👚👕👖👔👗

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